I Think There's Supposed to be a Wall There
by Gwydion
Summary: Just because they're on opposite sides of a dimensional portal doesn't mean they can't hear each other. It's too bad the 1987 Turtles are simply making no sense. Apparently no one taught them "as a guest, you abide by the house rules". (Takes place during the 2012 episode The Manhattan Project.)


A/N: I assure you I love both the 1987 show and the 2012 show, so this was not written to bash either of them. I posted this on tumblr a while ago, but while finishing "Sleep in Heavenly Peace", I decided to finally spruce it up.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Takes place during The Manhattan Project.

_Full names = 1987_  
_Nicknames = 2012_

**I Think There's Supposed to be a Wall There**

"Check this out, Red."

April and the turtles curiously headed toward the portal Casey was staring through, awestruck. As they all gathered around the young vigilante and peered through the Kraang portal, they too were taken aback at the scene playing out on the other side of the gateway. They could hardly believe what they were seeing. There before them were alternate versions of themselves, casually walking down a street, seemingly oblivious of their new audience.

At last Mikey spoke up, eyes wide. "It's us! Why do we look like dorks?"

On the other side of the dimensional portal, mid step, Raphael's eye twitched. He suddenly stopped walking and looked up to the sky where his descendants were watching from the gateway. With his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face, he shouted back, "Who're you calling dorks, bozo?"

Instantly six jaws dropped as the younger group gaped at the angry turtle. The newest generation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their human friends were having trouble believing their ears. It wasn't the fact that the other version of Raph had spoken to them that left them in shock; it was the voice that came out of his mouth.

It was Leo who finally asked the question on everyone's mind. "...why did Raph just sound exactly like Donnie?"

"I sound nothing like that!" protested the tall turtle in denial.

"There is no way that's really me!" Raph added, crossing his arms. "I mean, come on, 'bozo'? What kind of insult is that?"

"You try coming up with good insults from the 80s, pal!" the other Raphael shouted back.

Mikey gasped. "I knew the 80s were from a different dimension!" he whispered triumphantly, earning an exaggerated eye roll and groan from his brother Raph.

By now the rest of the older group had also stopped walking and turned toward the red clad turtle who was furiously yelling at the sky. Leonardo came up to him and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let it go, Raphael," he said, "We're only here for a short cameo. We don't have much time."

"Yeah, dude," agreed Michelangelo, "Just be happy we got the gig at all."

"Yeah, remember that time they called the Playmates' Wacky Action Turtles to stand in for us?" Donatello chimed in. "It was for that made for TV movie crossover with the turtles from the last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon."

"Ugh, don't remind me!" groaned Raphael, facepalming. "Those wimps just started bawling in the middle of the movie!"

Back on the other side of the portal, Casey leaned in toward April. "What the heck are they talking about?" he whispered.

"You're asking me?" said the red headed girl, just as confused as her hockey loving friend.

Donnie, however, was clearly deep in thought as he tried to follow the strange conversation. His face was slightly scrunched up as his tongue stuck out between his gapped teeth. "Fascinating," he mumbled as he brought one hand up to his chin thoughtfully. Raising his voice so the other version of their little group could hear him, he continued, "So, from the sound of it, you six are all actors, and you think this is some kind of movie?"

"No way, bud," replied Michelangelo as he too began looking up at the gateway in the sky, "This is obviously a TV show."

From above, Raph rolled his eyes. "Obviously," he muttered, noting the resemblance between his Mikey and the one looking up at him through the portal.

"It's a one hour special, to be exact," corrected the older version of Donatello as he held up his pointer finger, "but we're not actors. Just think of us as your ancestors."

"'Ancestors'?" scoffed Leo doubtfully, eyeing the group on the other side of the portal suspiciously.

"Kids these days just have no respect for their elders," said Raphael upon hearing younger Leo's tone. He crossed his arms and scowled.

"Come on, you guys!" said Leonardo suddenly, earning the eyes of both his team and the newer one, "This is their special! We had our time, and now it's theirs. We have to respect that the franchise has even lasted this long."

"Yeah," agreed Donatello, "can you believe it's been 30 years already? And besides, we're only here to entice the 30-somethings to watch the show with their kids."

Michelangelo grinned. "For sure!" he said excitedly, "All the little tykes now are watching for those dudes." He pointed at the sky. "To those kids, we're just some mondo bizarro versions of those guys."

Back through the portal, Mikey blinked and then blinked again. Finally he turned to Raph and said, "I think I need a translator."

The red banded turtle held up his arms in defeat. "Don't look at me! Ask the genius over there." He motioned to Donnie who was still deep in thought, trying to wrap his brain around everything he was hearing.

At last, the April in the yellow jumpsuit spoke up. "Hey, guys?" she said sweetly. When she was sure she had the attention of all four of her turtles, she smirked knowingly. "I don't think the new show breaks the fourth wall."

The four identical turtles stared at their female human friend, completely dumbfounded.

"Really?" said Leonardo simply, looking slightly ashamed that he was unaware of this fact.

"Holy guacamole! What kind of kid's show doesn't break the fourth wall?" asked Michelangelo in disbelief.

Raphael grasped his head in horror. "I couldn't even use half of my material!" he cried.

"Well that would explain why they're just sort of standing there watching us with their jaws on the floor," pointed out Donatello.

The older version of Casey finally stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "I don't know what this 'wall' thing is, but _I'm_ going to break something real soon if we don't see some action."

Leonardo straightened up and pulled his swords from his back. "Casey's right. We've already taken up too much of this new show's run time." He turned to look up at the turtles and humans through the gateway in the sky. "You six have to hurry. You have to find that portal to take you back to your world, right?"

Startled at suddenly being addressed so directly, the newest generation all turned to look at their own leader. Leo jumped, realizing he was just elected to speak for all of them. "Um... yes?" he said, unsure of how the parallel version of himself could possibly know that.

The elder Leonardo nodded up at him. "Then you'd better get to it. There's no time to waste." Without warning, the rest of the turtles pulled out their respective weapons as well, along with Casey gripping his favorite bat, all looking ready for battle. "You've still got a long way to go, but always remember this: Turtles fight with honor!"

As if on cue, the four identical turtles each raised a fist in the air, weapons still in hand, and shouted as loud as they could, "Turtle Power!" The whole group of six then began to run out of sight of the portal to face some unknown danger. April waved and winked at the sky as Michelangelo's cry of "Cowabunga!" could be heard before they were all gone.

The onlooking group just stared at the now seemingly empty portal. Having been suddenly reminded of their task at hand, a look of determination settled on Leo's face. He drew his own swords and raised one above his head. "He's right," he said, finally snapping the others out of it. "Come on, guys! We've got a portal to find!" As he turned to lead the search, he began wondering how he might be able to work in that line about "fighting with honor" in future speeches.

April and Casey glanced at each other. With a shrug, they both began following Leo's lead, April dragging Donnie along behind her. The poor turtle was still too lost in thought, his complex brain completely baffled and overwhelmed by what had just happened.

Raph eyed Mikey wearily. His little brother seemed to be contemplating something. "'Cowabunga'?" mumbled the young turtle to himself, "Hm, 'cowabunga'..." He suddenly opened his mouth wide, taking in a deep breath. "CO-"

He was stopped short by a large hand over his mouth. Raph looked at Mikey pointedly. "Don't even think about it."

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A/N: As a huge fan of the 1987 TMNT series, I was quite nervous about their cameo in the new show's episode "The Manhattan Project" when I heard Mikey's first words about them were commenting on how they looked like "dorks". Luckily I had nothing to fear as the writers handled it very well, but I wrote this before the episode aired as a way to calm my nerves and prove to myself that both sides could still be represented well despite the setup.

In the end they didn't end up interacting in the episode at all, but this was my idea of what could have been. I hope you enjoyed my silliness; I had a lot of fun writing my childhood Turtles. And as always, critics and grammar nazis appreciated!


End file.
